Talk Is Cheap at the Goldrush Café--and So Is the Coffee

Despite what the popular ad jingle may tell you, the best part of waking up isn't always the coffee in your cup. Some mornings it may be a friendly smile or the memorable service of the person pouring that cup of coffee.

Other days, the best part of waking up may be a meaningful conversation over coffee with an old friend or just some casual banter with the fellow java junkie you met in line while waiting for your latte.

At the family-owned and operated Goldrush Café in East Dallas, the friendly smiles, memorable service and conversation flow as freely as the coffee refills. And every morning, whether it's the conversation, the coffee or the breakfast specials that packs the booths and chairs, Goldrush Café is buzzing with people trying to get their wake-up on.

"It's good food and good coffee at a good price," one long-time regular tells Roasted. "But, honestly, I think a lot of us come for the conversations."

Most mornings, it doesn't matter if you watched the morning news or inked your fingers with the local daily, because the day's top stories can be gleaned from listening to the myriad conversations around the café--especially the dialogue springing from the communal tables.

From Gold Rush Cafe's Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thegoldrushcafe

This morning, as Roasted opened the eatery's front door, the first discernable words overheard were: "Obama" and "health care." But the conversations weren't just devoted to national politics. Many folks were talking about Sunday's late-season snowfall and today's forecast. Other discussed the merits of Dallas' new trash and recycling program (yawn), while two men sitting at different tables chatted about their respective golf games (double yawn).

It seems as though everyone here knows everyone here, because, in fact, they do, confirms George Sanchez who runs Goldrush Café. (George's father, Virgil Sanchez, owns the café.) On weekdays he estimates that 80 percent of the customer flow is made up of regulars. The same goes for the weekends, Sanchez says, "Only it's a different batch of regulars."

This morning's rush brings in all types from retirees in coveralls to suited businessmen in to a leather-clad tattooed guy utilizing the café's free Wi-Fi. So the wait for a table can be a gamble during peak hours, though this morning Roasted didn't have any trouble.

After finding a seat near the entrance, Roasted in less than a minute was sipping on a mug-full of piping hot Community Coffee. And though some coffee connoisseurs may turn up their noses at the commercial coffee giant's beans, there's a reason so many diners, dives and greasy spoons brew up the Baton Rouge favorite.

Malone's been frequenting Goldrush since the late 1980s, but only counts himself among the regulars for the last four years. "It's a great little family-run neighborhood café, but it gets habit forming," Malone says. "Now, I eat here probably three or four days a week."

The Goldrush makes the coffee consumption easy with its bottomless cup at $1.35 (that includes tax) This makes the café one the cheapest places around town to sate your caffeine fix. At least Goldrush is a less expensive habit than say ordering a 20 oz. white chocolate mocha at your neighborhood coffee shop. Plus there's breakfast too, and starting at $3.95, it's also for damn cheap.